


See How They Shine

by paperjamBipper



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Gen, I feel like moana would be a very restless sleeper, Insomnia, Stargazing, because you can never have enough protective maui, even when she's out cold she still tosses and turns and mumbles in her sleep, protective maui, some polynesian lore regarding the constellations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 11:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9488327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper
Summary: Maui finds an insomnia-ridden Moana stargazing down at the beach in the middle of the night and decides to join her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Before I say anything else, no, this does not take place in the same universe as "The Ocean is a Friend of Mine". In fact, that story takes place about 60 years after the movie, and this story could take place as early as a week after Moana returns home from restoring the heart of Te Fiti. I spit this little one-shot out in under a day, and originally only finished it so it wouldn't be bothering me while I was working on Chapter 4. Oops.
> 
> So! Fun fact. This story was originally going to go a little bit differently, but when I was resarching on google, I was having trouble finding any myths or legends connected to the stars. I DID, however, find an entire website dedicated to the specific constellations wayfinders use to help them guide their way. It's incredible what you can find if you look hard enough

For such a lively and active village, Motunui is surprisingly dark and quiet when night falls. Not a single person can be found outside their _fale_ when the stars come out. Everyone in the village cherishes the sunlight and its warmth during the days and spends as much time as they can outside. During the night, everyone locks themselves away inside the comfort of their _fales,_ and none return outside until the sun comes back up.

Normally, this wouldn’t bother Moana. Even she finds the quiet of the village at night peaceful, and she likes being able to sleep without worrying that she might have to be woken up in the middle of the night to help someone out with something. But tonight she would give anything for something, _anything_ to happen so she can get out of her _fale,_ because for some reason she’s having a lot of difficulty falling asleep.

Moana’s lying down on her mat staring up at the ceiling trying everything she can to fall asleep. She’s pointing up at the _afa_ rope that makes up her ceiling, trying to count each individual seam to bore herself to sleep. After about 400, she loses count, and groans in frustration. She drags her hands down the sides of her face and turns to her side. The moon is high above the sky, and a ray of pale moonlight is poking through her window. Squinting, Moana groans again, and flips over to lay on her other side. She stares at the wall, not even bothering to close her eyes. She supposes she could wake her parents and ask them for a suggestion, but she doesn’t want them to think something’s wrong and overreact when she shakes them awake.

Turning back over to her other side, Moana looks at the ray of moonlight pouring in from outside. It must be a full moon. Sighing, Moana stands. It seems light enough out that she should be able to see where she’s going, so she decides to go for a walk. She doesn’t think it’ll help her fall asleep, but it beats lying down on her sleeping mat just waiting for the sun to come back up by a longshot. Quietly, she sneaks her way out of her _fale_ and takes a look around to figure out where to start. Not unexpectedly, the ocean catches her eye first, so she begins to walk down to the beach. As she gets closer to it, an ocean breeze begins to blow in her direction, and she shivers. Ignoring a small voice in her head telling her to head back and stay in the warmth of her _fale,_ Moana rubs her arms together to keep herself warm.

The sand on the beach is cool under her feet, but she does not care. Picking a random spot, she sits down and looks out at the dark ocean as she listens to it peacefully crashing into the sand. She yawns. As she looks up at the sky while she stretches her arms out, she realizes there are more out than usual, and sits back to look up at them.

“What are you doing?” A voice behind her suddenly says, and Moana jumps at the sound. She turns her head around to find the source of the voice, and sees Maui approaching her from the same direction she came in.

“Stargazing” She says simply as she turns her head back to look at them. “There’s a lot more out tonight than usual and I want to look for constellations. What are _you_ doing?” She asks, not taking her attention off of the stars.

“Making sure you weren’t just about to sneak off on your canoe in the middle of the night without me.” Maui says. “I saw you sneaking out and wander down here. But, uh, since you’re _not_ doing that, why are you out here?”

“Couldn’t sleep” Moana states, and pats at the ground next to her. “Sit with me” She says, and scooches over to make room for him. She leans back on her hands to look at more of the stars when he takes a spot next to her. After a short moment, he copies her position and begins to look up at the stars as well.

“Any luck?” Maui asks after a moment, turning his head to look at her.

“With what?” She asks with her gaze locked onto the stars above.

“Constellations. How many have you found?”  He asks, and she sighs quietly as she begins to rub at her eyes.

“None.”

“Really? Interesting” He says, smiling smugly. “Because I think I’ve found _at least_ two or three”

“Stargazing isn’t supposed to be a competition” Moana says in a frustrated tone, and scrunches her face in as she squints up at the stars. “What constellations are you looking at, anyway? I can’t find any anywhere” She says, and Maui laughs. He sits up into a more comfortable position, and then points at a closely-knit cluster of seven or so stars to the east of where they’re sitting.

“You see that little clump of stars right there?”

“Yeah?” She says, tilting her head to one side as if she’s looking for something in the stars rather than the stars themselves.

“That’s a constellation” Maui replies, dropping his hand back down to his side. “Makali’i. That’s what your people have called it in the past.”

“Huh,” Moana says thoughtfully. “Does it mean anything?” She asks, turning her head to him. “The constellation itself, I mean.”

“Surprisingly enough, they used to refer to them as the ‘guiding stars’. No joke.” He says, shaking his head in amusement. “They named them after their exact purpose. No wonder you want to break away and be different from them so badly” He teases, and she punches him in the arm.

“I never said I wanted to be different from my ancestors. I’m pretty sure I said the exact opposite, actually” She says, and then turns her head around as she begins to look at more of the stars. “Okay,” she says, and points to a group of stars that somewhat resemble a lei. “What about that one?”

Hoku-lei” He says casually, like he’s got every constellation in the sky memorized. Moana wouldn’t be surprised if he did. “You see that one really bright star a little bit below it?” Maui asks, gesturing towards it with his head. “That one’s called A’a” He says, clearly enjoying that she’s happily soaking in every word he’s saying.

“How do you-” Moana says, and pauses as she yawns quietly. “…know so much about the stars, anyway?” she continues, and he smiles like he’s been waiting for her to ask a question like that for a long time.

“When I was teaching some of your ancestors how to sail, they wanted a way to map the stars so they wouldn’t get lost or have to recount a constellation multiple times by mistake. So, maybe I helped them chart and name a few of them, too.” He says, and Moana practically throws herself at his arm when he says this.

“You knew my ancestors _personally?_ ” She asks, starry-eyed. “What were they like? What was it like being out on the sea for so long? Where did they live before Motunui?” She asks, spitting out questions at him at hundred miles per hour.

“Okay, one at a time” He says, chuckling. “You know, you do remind me a bit of this old chief I used to know. Matai Vasa, I’ll tell you” He says, shaking his head. “He was a great leader, sure, but he was just as stubborn as you are. Dare I say even more so, if that’s remotely possible. It almost seemed like he hated being on land. All he ever wanted to do was go wayfinding and to discover something new. He finds one island, stays for about a week, and claims he’s ready to set out again.” He says, and turns to her. “At least you seem to love both equally”. Maui shakes his head. “I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like for your parents if you loved the sea more than the land” He says, and next to him, Moana snorts a laugh.

“You’d be surprised. You know I almost stole a little canoe when I was eight just so I could see what was beyond the reef?” She asks, her gaze now falling onto the ocean.

“You didn’t”

“I did” she says, shaking her head as she laughs. “But that’s nothing compared to what I was like when I was a baby. Apparently I’d do was escape from my _fale_ and come crawling down to the beach as fast as I could”

“Huh, then I guess _you’re_ the crazier of the two of you”

“Matai wasn’t chosen by the ocean” Moana reminds him, and then she slowly leans over and rests her head on his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Maui asks, sending a glance down at her.

“I’m tired” She complains, “and you’re the source available that won’t result in waking up with sand in my hair when I wake up.”

“I’m not going to sit here and do nothing for the next few hours just because you refused to go to sleep when you should’ve” He says, and she sort of tugs at his arm to pull it closer to her so she can rest her head on it more comfortably.

“First of all,” she attempts through a yawn. “I didn’t refuse to sleep. I had insomnia. Second of all,” she says, and pauses as she lies herself down in the sand. “It won’t be a few hours. I’ll probably get up and walk back to my _fale_ in a few minutes.”

“Then why don’t you just go back now?” Maui asks, half-heartedly attempting to steal his arm back from her.

“Can’t” She says as she finally settles herself into a position she’s comfortable with. “Too comfy” she says, and closes her eyes. “Don’t think this means you’re getting out of telling me about my ancestors, though. You’re telling me everything you know about them tomorrow” she adds, and makes one more tiny adjustment to her position before she stops moving. Her breathing begins to slow dramatically until it settles to a gentle pattern. She’s already out cold. He watches her for a short moment, and when an ocean breeze whips by, she shivers in her sleep and pulls his arm, her only current source of warmth, closer to her body. Maui frowns. He gently pulls his arm out of her grip, and when she loses her pillow and source of heat, she mumbles something inaudible in her sleep.

He then carefully scoops one arm under the back of her head and the other under her back and he lifts her as slowly as he can. “Okay, up you go” He says. “As _honored_ as I am that you think I’m worthy enough to use as a pillow,” He says sarcastically. “I’m not going to let you freeze out here. I’m bringing you back to your _fale_ whether you like it or not” He says to her sleeping body, and as if a direct response to his words, she stirs in his arms and manages to turn until she’s facing his chest rather than straight up at the sky. One arm dropped at her side, she flops the other one over and smacks him in the shoulder. He glances down at her, almost expecting her to be smirking, like she’s pretending to sleep, but her expression remains neutral. Rolling his eyes, he slowly and carefully begins to make his way to the village and back to Moana’s _fale._

Once there, he ducks inside and places her down on her sleeping mat as gently as he can. Looking around, he spots her blanket in the corner of the room, and walks to it. Picking it up, he brings it back over to her and places it carefully over shoulders. She pulls it close to her as soon as it touches her. Smiling, Maui backs away from her as quietly as he can, and then turns to leave the _fale_ to look for somewhere he can rest, too. Watching over Moana and making sure she takes care of herself sometimes takes a lot out of him, but he wouldn’t mind doing it until the end of time.


End file.
